Road Less Travelled
by Raven Taylor
Summary: Sometimes you gotta take the road that most people won't take for love. And Lauren will learn that this road comes with plenty of lessons learned.
1. Chapter 1

"Ready to go out?"

"Yeah... I've been waiting on you and Brie," I responded with impatience.

"Oh shut up Lauren. Beauty takes time to perfect."

"I'm still learning, Nikki. Remember, I'm only a newbie. That's why I'm spending time with you veterans." I said while smiling.

"You're lucky we like you, otherwise we wouldn't give a newbie the time of day. And did you just call me old?"

"No Nikki. Jesus, you are such a woman."

"Excuse me! What does that make you then?"

"A young lady."

"As if! Come on. Let's grab Brie and head down because I can't deal with you anymore by myself."

Nikki and I walked out of her hotel room and headed towards Brie and Bryan's down the hall. This was becoming normal for us to go out and enjoy the nightlife of whatever town we were currently in. Obviously it was for Nikki's benefit because she was often alone lately since John was busy being WWE's face of the company. She was becoming more reliant on her sister and I to keep her company and her mind off of her loneliness. Brie wasn't usually prone to going out- she was usually so attached to Bryan's hip. But I guess she could even see the pain in her sister's face as of late.

"Finally! It's about time!" Brie whined as she answered the door.

"Look, you can both shut up," the high maintenance twin exclaimed.

Brie gave me a puzzled look.

"She's just mad because she takes forever to get ready," I answered.

Bryan came to the door and embraced Brie.

"You ladies have fun tonight. Be safe. Call me if you need a ride or anything."

Brie gave Bryan a kiss, and then our night began.

We walked to a bar that was just two blocks away from our hotel.

"Next time you two decide that you want to walk somewhere, TELL me not to wear six inch heels."

"No one told you to wear six inch heels, Nicole," Brie reminded her.

I kept quiet. Nikki has been quite moody lately and Brie knew how to handle her. I was just happy to have friends on the main roster, especially friends that were Divas. I was in developmental for two years before I got called up to the main roster, so it was nice to already have friends in high places. It was also refreshing because I've been known to get along a lot easier with guys than I do with girls.

We walked into the bar and Nikki made a beeline towards a bar stool.

"Oh my God! My feet are killing me!"

Brie and I just smiled at each other in agreement that Nikki was extremely amusing.

We took a second to get settled in then ordered a round of drinks. The Bella's got cocktails, I decided on a beer.

"You're such a dude, Lauren," the lonely twin expressed.

"Are you going to carry me back to the hotel in your six inch heels?"

"Oh! So that's what you've been hiding!? You're a light weight!?"

"Shhh! Stop being so loud Nicole," Brie interrupted.

"Loosen up, Brie. I'm having fun."

I was embarrassed that the whole bar heard Nikki scream that I'm a light weight, but whatever. Nobody even knows who I am yet. I was called up from developmental two months ago, waiting for direction from creative. They were originally planning for me to debut in a storyline feuding with AJ Lee and I'll never forget the night it was supposed to happen. I was backstage, in gorilla, waiting for my cue to head out and attack her. Her match against Kaitlyn was almost over. They just had one more big move to hit, then AJ would go in for the pin and win. She climbed to the top rope, got in position, lost her footing, and landed on the mat the wrong way. The next thing we saw was the ref signaling for the medics. My heart sank. I felt horrible for AJ, but that night was supposed to be my night. Since then, I've been waiting patiently for my next chance. Hoping that there would be another chance…

I snapped back into reality with Nikki shoving a shot in my face.

"Here, drink."

I inhaled the scent to inspect it. "Ohhh hell no. Nikki, you know I don't do tequila."

"Stop being a bitch and just take it."

I reluctantly downed the awful, bitter taste and tried not to throw it all back up. I grabbed my beer to mute the awful after taste and the burning in my throat.

I called over the bartender and requested some rum shots for us. If it was going to be one of those nights, I need it to be on my terms and rum was a much better route than tequila.

As we took our new shots, two guys approached us and offered to buy us another round. We agreed because we were obviously on a mission, or just plain stupid. After three shots and a beer, I was drunk and loosened up. Usually I wasn't such a social butterfly like Nikki, but tonight I impressed her with how outgoing I was being. I was laughing, buying more shots, and just really enjoying my time.

After countless drinks and alcohol consumption, I knew I was done. I needed to go outside and get some fresh air because the liquor started to hit me harder and harder. I walked outside and went right around to the corner of the building. I didn't want to be seen. I just wanted to regroup and try to sober up quickly before I made an ass out of myself in front of Nikki and Brie. I didn't want them to think I was some little girl who couldn't hold my liquor and embarrass them. I was taking a couple of deep breaths when suddenly a man approached me.

"Hey, I came outside to see if you were okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just needed some fresh air. What's your name again," I asked trying to sort through my intoxicated brain for answers.

"My name is Sean, sweetheart. My friend inside is Tom."

"Oh, haha. You guys are super fun! I'm glad we met you two tonight," I said slurring my words. God, I was pretty drunk. Apparently I couldn't even stand up straight because Sean put his hands on my hips. Or I at least assumed that he was trying to help me by putting his hands there... Until suddenly, he went in for a kiss.

I slapped him.

"What the hell," Sean screamed.

"Why did you kiss me? Please get off of me. I don't want this."

"Yes you do." He started moving his hands up and down my back and trying to kiss me. Once I started to try to push him off of me, he got more aggressive and pinned me hard against the brick wall.

"No. Seriously, please stop. Please." I begged, half crying. I was feeling defenseless due to my drunken state. I started hyperventilating, panicking because I knew how this could turn out.

"Dude, get off her. She said stop, so stop."

A muscular, tall man came around the corner. I stared at him feeling like I knew exactly who he was, but there was too much going on right now for me to be able to focus. 'Focus Lauren, this guy could help you, or hurt you even more,' I thought to myself.

"And who the fuck are you? Mind your own business, dick," Sean replied.

I saw the look of disgust draw on the man's face when I recognized him. Thank God. A familiar coworker. A hot coworker. Someone that I've had a crush on for the past two months. I smiled at him and he smiled back for a second. His face suddenly dropped into seriousness as he rushed after Sean.

In an instant, he pulled the guy off of me and punched him square in the nose.

"Jesus, Jon!"

"Now did you get the hint? The lady doesn't want to be bothered," he yelled at Sean who was on the ground holding his nose.

I could see blood seeping from his hands. I looked at Jon, shocked. I started to panic more. I came outside to calm myself down, yet here I am, more anxious out here than I was inside.

Sean got up, still holding his nose with blood pouring everywhere. He walked around the corner towards the entrance of the bar, keeping his distance from the man that spared his life but his eyes steady on him.

"Are you okay," my hero asked turning his attention to me.

My breathing was shallow and fast. Tears started falling from my eyes. I couldn't talk or focus. I just wanted to be out of this situation and not drunk anymore. When Jon noticed that I was upset, he put his arms around me and embraced me in a hug, trying to calm me down.

"Shhh. I know that was scary, but its okay now. I'm here with you. I won't let him come back and try to hurt you again."

"Jon, I know that you are only trying to help, but honestly, I have the biggest crush on you and you're only making my heart rate go higher right now."

That made him chuckle. He backed away with his hands in the air.

"I'm sorry. I could see that you're freaking out and I was just trying to calm you down in any way that I knew how. Would it help if I told you that the feeling is mutual?" He was shyly smirking.

I did a double take looking at him, trying to decide if he was being honest while I was still taking deep breaths.

I smiled at him, "It helps, but still has the same effect. Can you just pretend that I'm not here for five minutes and let me gather my shit?"

He then made it a show to lean on the wall a couple feet away from me, and exaggeratedly pulled out his phone and started playing on it.

It actually made me feel at ease knowing that he was still around in case that guy did come back. But Jon's presence was also making me nervous, in butterflies in my stomach type of way. I continued to breath, and attempted to walk around a little bit.

"How are you doing kid?"

Right in the middle of his question, I fell and busted my ass and started laughing uncontrollably.

"Did you just call me 'kid'?" I shot an inquisitive look his way. "I'm not that much younger than you."

"But you're still younger which is the key word. I usually date older," he answered as he helped me to my feet. He secured me by putting his arm around my waste.

"Is that a deal breaker for you," I asked flirtatiously.

"Not at all darling. It's kind of refreshing, honestly. Plus, I should mention that I was planning on taking you back to your hotel," he gave me a reassuring wink.

"Sure, handsome. I'll let you take me anywhere," I said, half jokingly.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lauren! Lauren!" Brie shouted as she sprinted around the corner. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jon and I together. "Oh…"

"Wait Brie! Can you stop? You know I can't run in these heels!" We heard Nicole's frustrations as she slowly made her way around the corner. She also stopped dead in her tracks when she saw us together. "Oh, hey Jon," she said with a devious smile.

"Hey ladies," he responded. "So I was just going to make sure Lauren gets back to her room safely, if that's okay with you two. I think she's had enough action tonight."

"Uh huh. I'm sure she could squeeze in some more," Nikki said as she winked at me.

I looked at her with wide eyes in disbelief that she was so blunt. I turned to see Jon blushing a little bit.

"Nicole," Brie reprimanded her sister.

"So, I'm going to tell the guys that I'm headed out for the night. I'll be right back," Jon reassured me and walked away.

When he was out of sight, the questions started.

"So are you two hooking up tonight? I didn't know you had a thing for Ambrose! He is a cutie," Nikki gushed like a teenager.

"Seriously, Nicole! Did you have to embarrass them like that?" She turned her attention to me, as I was off in another land, thinking about Jon. "Are you okay? We saw that man come back in the bar with a bloody nose. He was pissed!"

"God only knows what would have happened if Jon didn't come out here and rescue me from that creep. He is a fucking hero. Praise him for being attracted to me and curious about my whereabouts, otherwise, who the fuck knows," I tried to sound as coherent as possible.

"What do you mean who knows? What happened," Brie yelled at me because she was passionately concerned. I always adored her because she definitely acted like a protective older sister, and that's what a rookie Diva needs in the locker room.

"Lauren, are you ready to go," Jon politely asked when he made his way around the corner.

"Yeah," I responded to him, then turned my attention to Nikki and Brie. "Look guys, I'm still pretty drunk and all I want to do is safely lay down in my room. I'll talk to you both tomorrow when I sober up."

I gave them both hugs, then walked up to Jon as he protectively put his arm around me again. It felt so right how safe he made me feel.

"What excuse did you come up with for the guys? It better have been exciting like 'AJ came at me the wrong way so I knocked her ass out and we were ditching the scene before the cops and paparazzi came,'" I inquired as we walked back to the hotel.

He gave me a look like he was questioning my sanity. "No, I told them the truth. That some dude got out of line with you so I'm taking you back to the hotel since it seemed to shake you up." He paused for a second to sound serious. "I might have added that I was going to try to take advantage of you, but I doubt anyone believed me."

I thought about this for a second. "Why wouldn't anyone believe you?"

"You have to know that I couldn't possibly be the only guy in the locker room that has noticed how beautiful you are. It's not _if_ they believed me, but more like they refused to."

I took all of this in consideration for a moment.

"Now look, I'm a jealous guy…" he informed me, playfully.

I smiled at him, blushed, and shook my head. We walked into the hotel, past the front desk attendant. He looked at us, concerned, but Jon smirked at him and waved. I continued giggling, thinking about how this must look.

We finally got to my hotel room; Jon opened the door for me. I immediately took my shoes off and went outside on the balcony. Jon followed me, and leaned against the railing next to me. We both took in the sounds and fragrances of the ocean.

"There is something so calming about hearing the ocean and smelling the salt water," I broke the moment of silence.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier!? I could've just brought you to the beach and that would have calmed you down!"

I smiled at him, and he smiled back. I looked down so he wouldn't see me blushing and see through my eyes how tonight has made me crush on him even more.

"Thanks for everything tonight. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't show up," I said, looking up at the end of my statement.

He smiled back, "No need to thank me. I'm just happy that I followed my gut instinct and went outside when I saw you go."

"Why didn't you come over and say hi if you were at the bar?"

"We had just gotten there. I literally sat down with the guys, ordered a drink, looked up and saw you ladies. I was about to come over when I saw you stumbling outside. Then I thought to myself 'Hmmm, she looks pretty wasted to be wandering off alone outside.'"

"Did I ruin your night? I feel bad that I cut it short..."

He stopped me before I could ramble on. "If anything, you made it better."

I looked into his beautiful blue eyes and saw sincerity.

"How so," I flirtatiously pondered. I was baiting him to keep my ego train going. I could listen to Jon talk about all the good stuff he liked about me all night.

"When we went out tonight, I never thought that I'd end up here with you. It sucks under the circumstances how we ended up here, but the upside is that I get to spend time with you."

"Oh, look at you! Being all romantic and sentimental," I said through a smile.

"Hey now! I'm actually never like this, so you should feel quite special," he exclaimed loudly. He seemed to be very amused by my statement.

"I really do. I'm just really happy that it was you who rescued me. Thankfully, I'm slowly getting sober. I had way too much to drink tonight."

"That kind of blows..."

"Why, were you going to follow through and actually try to take advantage of me," I said, flirting.

"Ha! No, no, no. You met your quota tonight with that. I like watching you drunk, though. You're very giggly and bouncy. It's cute. It's like a different side of you that I have never seen before."

"Yeah, you're right. I am kind of serious at work. I guess alcohol just brings out the best of me." Then a thought dawned on me, "Oh no... I never paid my tab..."

"Wow. You're such a terrible person," he seemed like he was very surprised with my confession

I looked at him, kind of hurt by his statement. But he was right, I did feel terrible.

"Just kidding. I totally took care of it. You can repay me by taking me out to dinner," he plastered a cocky grin on his face.

"Did we just line up two dates with each other," I asked after a moment deep in thought.

"I guess we did. That's good. It takes the pressure off. None of the bullshit 'I hope she calls me after three days' or whatever the rule is now-a-days."

"Which wouldn't apply to us because we work together…" I pointed out.

"Valid point. This better work out," he chuckled. "I already been through a break up with a coworker and I don't need to go through all that drama again. You better be worth it kid," he smiled playfully at me.

I laughed at him, "I should get to bed. It was a crazy night. But you're right, I'm glad it happened because we ended up here together."

He smiled back and gave me a hug. "Alright, text me when you wake up."

Just then, I became frantic checking my pockets for my phone. But Jon was grinning at me like he hiding something from me. I looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I put your phone on the nightstand by your bed." He turned to walk out of the room. "Oh, and I put my number in it," he said, still walking away from me.

I smiled, "Goodnight Jon."


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning I woke up very confused to an alarm going off on my phone. And I knew for a fact that I definitely did not set an alarm last night, let alone a 9am alarm. I silenced it with aggression then searched my contacts to text Jon. But of course he wouldn't make my life that simple by putting his number under his actual name.

'Didn't know you still went by Mox.'

'Only a select group of people can still call me Mox.'

'And I've already earned my spot among the elite?'

Not more than a minute later, my phone rang. I looked at my phone and was confused as to why Jon was now calling me.

"Hello?"

"The problem with today's society is that there is no human connection. No one wants to talk to each other anymore. We all want to hide behind our technology."

I paused for a moment. "I completely agree with you, but you did tell me to _text_ you last night."

"Moot point. Anyway, back to what we were discussing- I'd like to think that you're gonna be my girl, so yeah. I feel like that's a great reason to earn a covenant spot."

I let out a soft chuckle trying to keep up with this crazy conversation. "Alright. So, Mox… why would you want to wake a hung over person up at 9am was the true question that I needed answered."

"For breakfast, girl! You owe me!"

"I thought that I owed you dinner..."

"Yeah, but I couldn't wait that long. I knew that I would miss you."

"Finnnneeee. I'll get ready."

"I'll pick you up in an hour?"

"Pssshh. More like twenty minutes."

"You're definitely my type."

I got up and threw my phone on the bed and instantly had a permanent smile plastered on my face. I felt like a teenager in high school again with all of these feelings and emotions.

I took a much needed quick shower, threw some clothes on, put on a little make up, threw my hair in a messy bun, and popped some Advil.

Twenty minutes later, I heard a heavy knock on the door. When I greeted my visitor, Jon was leaning against the frame, smiling and being sexy.

"Come in, I just need to grab my phone and my wall-" shock over came me once again with the horrifying thought that I could have lost something important in my drunken stupor from last night. I felt my empty pockets and quickly glanced around my room.

"It's on the nightstand," he said smugly.

I took a deep breath to calm me down. "That answers how we got in last night."

"I thought somebody from Baltimore would have known better to keep their wallet more secure."

"I thought I could trust somebody from Cincinnati, but then I remembered that it is Cincinnati."

"Touché," he complimented through an impressed chuckle.

I grabbed my wallet and headed out to breakfast with my new companion. We picked a local mom-and-pop cafe since I insisted that they make better food than chain restaurants.

"Wow, you were totally dead on with the food choice. I'm totally going to have to put in extra time at the gym after this."

"Well, working in a chain restaurant for as long as I did, I know a thing or two about finding quality food. And it's usually not going to come from any corporate restaurant."

The server brought out the check, and Jon went to reach for his wallet.

"What do you think you're doing? I owe you..."

"Darling," he interrupted me, "I only said that to get you to go out with me on a date. You don't owe me anything. And as my date, it is your job is to pay for nothing. Now sit there, look pretty, and shut up... and whatever else crazy sexist thing I can't think of," he said waving the statement off with his hand.

I chuckled at his form of chivalry and was happy to just enjoy his company.

We had the day off and I extended my hotel for another night so we could spend the day together. I convinced him that by doing this, it was my way of paying for the dinner that he'll never let me pay for. In retaliation, he insisted on taking me shopping. But, once I became bored (and quite irritated) with that, he finally gave in and we went hiking.

"What girl doesn't like to shop!? Isn't that what you girls do? Don't you have thousands of shoes and outfits and jewelry," he said as we made our way through a local hiking trail.

"I mean I do like to shop, but I do it in moderation. I can only shop when I know exactly what I want, not just look around and hope to find something I like. It's something that I practice with men, too," I winked at him.

He laughed. "That's actually a pretty good way to look at it. Does that mean you knew what you wanted when you went out to the bar last night? Was it all a plot to finally get me like you wanted?" He playfully put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him so we walked side by side.

"Yes, Jon. I asked some stranger to follow me outside and try to rape me. It was all a plan," I said sarcastically.

"Well, how long have you actually liked me for," he asked lightly, but in a serious way as he gazed down at me from his height advantage.

"Who said I liked you? I just wanted free food," I playfully smiled back up at him.

He stopped walking and pretended like I actually insulted him. I grabbed his hand and pulled him along then gave him more of an answer he was looking for.

"Umm, I don't know. Probably like two months? I can't remember exactly when it started."

"You're lying."

I looked up at him to study his expression. I evaluated carefully and could see what type of answer he was looking for.

"Alright, I had been called up for all of two days when I saw you one morning in the gym working out when we were in Nashville for a house show. I couldn't take my eyes off of how good you looked. Later that night, I noticed you backstage talking with Colby and Joe. You seemed so light hearted and fun, which made me fall for you even more." I smiled as I was remembering these moments. And when I looked at him, he was smiling too.

"I asked because I remember that day at the gym. It was actually the moment that I noticed you and saw how beautiful you are."

"Why didn't you just ask me out?"

"Uhh, well, that's a great question," he took a moment to think while he had an uncomfortable smile on his face. "One of my friends kind of has, or had a thing for you."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter now. He asked me not to tell you for whatever reason, anyway. But we're here now and everything is how it is supposed to be."

"You're right. I'm a firm believer in what is meant to be will be."

Just then, Jon stopped me and stood in front of me. He put my chin in his hand and tilted my head up to look at him. He studied my face for a moment, then gently kissed me. Ecstasy overwhelmed my body. This moment couldn't have been any better. He stepped back, and studied my face some more. I was smiling with my eyes still closed, happy that this was happening. When I opened my eyes, he was smiling back, agreeing with this moment. He took my hand and started to lead me through the rest of the trail.

"And it is being, or whatever philosophical crap you want to say," he interrupted my moment.

"You're not very good with sayings," I bluntly stated.

"Nope."

Later, we had dinner that night. Something simple and Italian. Then he drove us back to the hotel after.

We went up to the room and settled in for the night. I checked my phone because I had it off all day. I didn't want any disruptions while I was with Jon. As soon as I turned it on, the text messages, voice mails, and missed calls all came through. I must have had an annoyed look on my face.

"What's wrong? Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I had my phone off all day and as soon as I turned it on, it blows up with texts from the girls."

"They're probably just worried about you."

"Yeah... oh, nope. I was right." I scanned through the messages. "They all want to know if we hooked up. Nosey bitches."

"Just turn your phone back off and come watch a lame 80s romantic comedy with me."

I turned and looked at him, questioning him with my eyes if he was serious. I took the remote from him and searched until I found something actually good on the hotel channels.

"Didn't peg you for a comic book fan," he reacted to my choice of the X-Men movie.

"Oh, I'm not. Just a fake one who loves the movie versions. I would totally do Cyclops, FYI."

He chuckled at my honesty and pulled me close to cuddle with him.

I must have slept like a rock which was unusual for me because the next thing I knew I was waking up to a 7am alarm.

"Jonathan, with the alarms," I groaned, burying my face under the sheets.

"Sorry dear." He kissed my cheek. "I have a plane to catch."

I made a sad puppy face at him.

"Well what time is your flight," he asked me.

"10 am."

"Oh, so you also need to go soon, then? You just wanted to make me feel guilty. I see how it is."

I just smiled at him and he gave me a kiss. We gathered our things and drove to the airport. As we sadly departed at the terminal, I couldn't help but to think if I should I miss him this much already? Are we moving too fast? This is only the beginning of the third day that we've been "together."


	4. Chapter 4

Monday came around and I was due back to work after having the house shows off. I called Jon bright and early (for retaliation) before my flight to meet up when I landed. He appreciated my revenge and insisted on picking me up from the airport to show it.

Three and a half relaxing hours later, I was greeted by a 6'4" blue eyed, blonde haired man with a backwards hat and sunglasses on, standing close to my baggage claim with two coffees.

"Are you trying to disguise yourself," I greeted him as I took a coffee.

He looked at me seriously. "One day you will experience the fan girls," he said as he sheepishly took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh, you are very much on your own with that," I said as I turned and headed to find my luggage to end the conversation because it was not a discussion. I heard him chuckle behind me.

We grabbed my bags and headed off to find breakfast since it was still early yet.

"Do you think we're moving too fast," I asked as we finally settled in at our table.

He contemplated my question for a moment. "My perspective—no. I think people move too fast when they aren't ready to be in a relationship or the find flaws in the person they're dating. I like you a lot. You're a great person to hang around and I'm having fun getting to know you. I'm not going to create space between us because of some arbitrary rule someone made up because they think they know what's best for people. I'm going to spend as much time with you as possible because I want to, unless you don't feel the same way."

"I agree. I'm just scared to mess up a good thing. But as long as we both agree that everyone else can suck a dick with their opinions, then I'm happy."

He reached over to hold my hands and stare into my eyes. "Everyone else can suck a dick."

Later that evening we arrived at the arena together. Immediately as we walked through the halls all eyes were on us. I wasn't with my usual Bellas and he wasn't with his brothers, so everyone could sense that we were out of place and something was different.

"Why haven't you texted me back? I called you a million times, left you countless messages. Are you okay? Did that guy touch you? Did he go too far? Did you and Jon hook up?" Nikki spoke a mile a minute.

I flinched back in shock realizing how blunt she was. She finally broke her evil stare down with me and quickly noticed Jon standing next to me.

"Well, that answers my last question," she stated, sure of herself.

"No Nikki, it doesn't. The last thing I need is a nasty rumor going around about me hooking up with the guys. So stop. I'll talk to you later."

I stepped away from her because I didn't want to hear anymore. It was becoming my bad habit for the day.

We continued to our destination of my locker room. We were quiet until we stood outside of the door.

"So, I guess I'll see you a little bit later," he asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to put my bags down and get settled. And probably do some rumor control. I'm assuming that they all think I'm pregnant with your child by now..."

"Now that's an example of moving too fast in my book," he sarcastically expressed.

I playfully hit him then walked into the locker room with a smile on my face… only for it to disappear almost immediately.

As soon as I put my bags down, the questions started coming in at once. "Are you okay?" "Did some guy try to rape you?" "Did you call the cops?" "Did Jon almost kill him?" "Did you two hook up?" "Are you guys dating?"

"LADIES! Enough," I waved my hands to create space. "Here's the story. Dude tried to make out with me, I said no but he didn't leave, so Jon made him leave. I was drunk. Jon drove me to my hotel, then left. End of story. I didn't have sex with any one; I didn't hook up with anyone. It was a horrible scary night, and not to be rude, but I'd rather not think about it anymore. It's done. Thank you all for caring, but please give me space."

At that point, they got the hint and bitterly dispersed.

Except for Nikki who kept popping out of nowhere.

"You know, you never said anything about not dating Jon."

"Nikki, please stop. If there was anything to tell, I'd tell you. But he got me home safe that night and I'm not going to make it into any more than what it is. I'm sorry for being moody but I feel like I've been bombarded since I got here."

"Okay. Fine, sorry. Won't happen again," she put her hands in the air and backed away.

"Lauren, Triple H wants to see you in his office," a crew lady came in the locker room and told me.

I took a deep breath with everything thrown at me at once, then headed down to his office with tons on my mind. Were they going to release me because things fell through and I was just taking up space? Did they hear about what happened the other night at the bar and criminal charges were going to be pressed against Jon? Did they see that I was bad for the image of the company because of it? Were they going to tell me that Jon and I couldn't be together?

I felt as bad as my coworkers with all the questions I was asking myself.

"Hey Lauren, come in and take a seat. How have you been? I heard you had a bad night a couple nights ago. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. Everything is fine," I said as I took a seat. "It was scary, but it's all over with and everything is back to normal."

"Well that's good. Listen, I brought you into my office to discuss a storyline with you. Are you interested," he asked getting straight to the point.

"Yeah," I excitedly exclaimed because I was caught off guard. "Oh my God, yeah! I was scared that I would never get another shot after the AJ angle fell through..."

"Don't worry about that. We like you here, kid. We see great things coming from you. So we were thinking about you going out tonight and attacking Brie Bella."

"Okay..."

"Don't worry, there's more. We want you to stand out from all the other Divas. We can already see a spark in you that could lead to a reform in the Divas locker room that is obviously much needed. We want you to bring spunk and attitude back with the girls. So, naturally we thought that you should become the newest member of The Shield."

"Don't get me wrong; you tell me to jump and I'll ask how high. But, doesn't The Shield just go out and attack people who they think are an injustice to the company?"

"Yes, but in reality, The Shield was created to make change in the company. Look at what they have accomplished so far. Lauren, we're giving you a platform and the will to do whatever you need to do with it. This is what we want, here are your tools, now build something out of it. We relied on Joe, Colby and Jon to change our product into something more interesting. To bring the attitude and hostility back, and they did. Now we are giving you the reigns to change the Divas competition. Make it better. Make it worthwhile. Honestly, make it worth watching."

"And I'm debuting tonight against Brie Bella?"

"Yes."

"When does AJ come back," I bluntly asked.

"Tonight, I believe. Why?"

"In order to be the best, you got to beat the best."

"I already like where your head is. But before you go, I do have one question. Is it true that you are you pregnant with Ambrose's kid?"

I gave Triple H an are-you-being-serious face as he laughed at me in response.

"Just making sure before we invest a good amount of time in you. Well, tonight you have Brie to prove your point. Eventually you can have AJ to make a statement, but I think we should build up to that."

"No problem, Paul. I've got this." I shook his hand then left his office with a sense of confidence.


	5. Chapter 5

I was pumped after leaving Triple H's office. I was finally getting a chance to prove myself after months and months of waiting. And not only was I getting my chance, I was given the opportunity to work with Jon.

After a very short few hours of anxiously waiting and discussing different tactics to use, I finally made my way down to the audience and hid behind the barricade. I squatted down to remain unseen- for the most part- and waited even more for Brie to win and for my cue to make my entrance onto the roster known. The audience around me knew something was going down with all the security around me. They could sense that I was somebody important- just had no idea who I was yet.

But they would soon enough.

Finally I got the signal from the producer that Brie went for the pin. I heard the ref count- 1, 2, 3.

My heart started to race as I hopped the barricade and slid onto the mat. As the ref was raising her hand, I came up from behind Brie and attacked her. After a few moments of beating her senseless to prove my soon to be made point, I grabbed a microphone and stood over her motionless body as I spoke.

"Poor Brie Bella. Instead of believing, she went against the Hounds of Justice and married the enemy. Now I'm here to bring the order back. This is a friendly reminder to all the Divas in the locker room that you are not immune from being punished for injustice."

That's when The Shield's music hit and the boys headed to the ring. I tried my hardest not to smile like a school girl when I saw Dean Ambrose making his way to me. When they all got down to the ring, they stood next to me as I stood over Brie, and we all put our fists out to show unity. I couldn't help but to glance up at the Tron and notice how great it looked to stand next to Jon, both of us being in character and not hinting to the crowd that we were falling in love.

After it was made clear what my role was, we headed to the back when we saw Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. They shook my hand and commended me on a job well done. A feeling of accomplishment and ecstasy overwhelmed my body. I already have the boss' approval and it was my debut night.

Jon gave me a smirk and a wink and headed to the locker room with the boys after we made plans to meet up at the bar after the show.

As I was walking to my locker room, I got a lot of smiles of approval from the veterans and the faculty. I seemed to be over with the superstars also, as they smiled and patted my back. But the approval surely changed quickly as I entered into the Divas locker room.

AJ was the first person that I saw. I couldn't ignore her unwelcoming glare.

I shook it off, showered and changed. As I was packing up my bag, Nikki and Brie came up to me.

"Good job kicking my ass tonight," Brie said smiling and pulling me in for a hug.

"No problem. Any time you need a good ass kicking, I'm here for you."

Just then, AJ snorted, interrupting my happy moment with The Bellas.

"What is her problem," I asked to just Nikki and Brie.

"Well, she heard the rumors about you and Jon. And now you obviously got the gig with The Shield," Brie answered.

"So?"

"AJ has been after Jon for a while now, but he just doesn't see anything in her. She's just jealous Lauren. Don't let her ruin your night," Nikki said.

This all came as news to me and I had no idea what to think or how to feel. I knew that Jon had admirers, but never thought that the jealously would be thrown so heavily in my face.

I did shake it off as advised and walked out of the arena with Nikki and Brie. We packed my rental car up and headed toward the bar.

We were the first of our company to arrive at the local watering hole. We ordered a couple of drinks and mellowed out from our hellacious schedules.

About twenty minutes later, the guys arrived, plus more. Bryan came out, which was a shock to Nikki and I, but also Randy Orton, Kaitlyn, AJ, JoJo, and CM Punk all came to join us. I gave The Bella twins a sour look when I saw that AJ was here. This could get interesting.

Some of the guys took seats and mingled with each other. Jon greeted me with a hug then took his spot standing behind me while conversing with Joe and Colby. I curiously scanned around the bar to see what everyone was up to.

I noticed that Bryan and Brie were having a conversation with CM Punk, Randy looked bored as JoJo seemed to desperately try to grab his attention as she was also talking to Kaitlyn, and AJ kept glaring at me every so often, looking like she hated my guts. I felt frustrated with this animosity as I sat next to Nikki, trying my best to ignore AJ.

I also noticed that Jon kept close to me, but we didn't really touch. I wasn't offended or put off by this- it was nice and comforting just having him near me. I didn't need to publicize how I felt about Jon, nor did I need him to be all over me. As long as I knew that we were together and he still wanted me, I was fine. And AJ's intimidation proved my point on why we should just keep our relationship to ourselves.

"I have to pee," Nikki announced. She must be tipsy already.

As she got up, Randy scooted over one into her chair. I looked over at him and greeted him with a smile.

"You're being quiet tonight," he stated.

"I'm sorry. I've been trying to ignore the death stares all night from a certain individual," I said as I pointed my attention at AJ.

"Don't mind AJ," he said without needing to follow my eyes. "She's just intimidated over your potential. The rest of us are happy that you're here and sharing your presence. You seem like a cool chick. Don't let the twins be selfish and keep you to themselves."

I smiled at him, and then noticed quickly that JoJo was now glaring at me with the eyes of death. What is with these women?

Jon nonchalantly propped his arm up on my shoulder and leaned on me.

Maybe we were publicizing our relationship a little more?

Randy cleared his throat and looked away.

Maybe I was being rude being stuck in my thoughts…

"Here, take this shot," Jon said as he handed me a dark liquid while reaching over me.

I turned around in my chair to face my brothers. Jon embraced me lovingly and we toasted.

"Here's to our new SISTAHHH," he announced as us four members drank to my debut.

I made a face at the bitterness of the liquid, then turned my attention back to Randy.

"Yeah... I can hang. Just not liquor wise." I reached back to grab my beer chaser and was studying it. I decided that it was probably better to chug it to get the taste out of my mouth then to sit and let it linger.

Randy looked back at me, smiled, and ordered two shots for us. He handed me one as I questioningly looked at him.

"Come on. I'm buying you a shot to celebrate your debut tonight."

I felt Jon shift uncomfortably and saw Colby and Joe look unpleased with the situation.

Nikki suddenly came back which broke the tension and brought me relief. She looked at Randy with annoyance. She started to slowly poke him, "Hey... you're in my seat..." She looked sad, a tipsy sad.

Randy and I clicked our glasses together and took our shots.

I looked back at Jon to find him watching me, so I winked at him to reassure him that I was only being polite.

"Oh, never mind. You can stay. If you get this bitch to loosen up, by all means stay," Nikki reassured Randy then walked over to Brie and started conversing with her group.

Randy smiled at me, "Another round then?"

I called the bartender over, "I need twelve of your favorite shots- wait no, I lied. Eleven," as I remembered JoJo was underage.

Randy looked at me, confused.

"I'm buying us all a round. Celebrating my debut," I smiled. In reality, I was defusing a situation.

The bartender brought the shots to me and I dispersed them. I handed one to CM Punk but quickly remembered what he stood for. "God damn it. I totally forgot Phil."

He smiled at me amusingly.

"Guess you're drinking two of them. It is your night to celebrate," Jon said from behind me, having a coy smile on his face. He placed his hand gently on my waist and then glanced at Randy.

"What the hell are we taking these shots to," Nikki loudly asked, unknowingly interrupting a potentially tense moment yet again.

"To Lauren's debut and may she kick ass in the Divas locker room," Randy shouted.

"She already kicked mine," Brie yelled as everyone chuckled.

We took our shots in unison. Jon gave me a sweet kiss on my cheek afterward to congratulate me on my debut.

After the back to back shots, I was starting to feel the liquor.

Eventually Randy and I found ourselves in each other's presence once more and we started to converse about work and the politics of it. Jon remained near me, resting his hand on my thigh or shoulder at times. I chimed into his conversation with Joe and Colby every now and then to try to spread my attention out.

Although after a couple more shots, I started to float in between everyone's conversation. I headed over to AJ and JoJo's group, but stood next to Kaitlyn.

"Hey chicks! You ladies having fun!?"

AJ and JoJo looked like they wanted to beat the crap out of me.

"I have no idea what I did to you two, but I'm sorry for whatever it was," I addressed my two apparent enemies, then politely smiled at Kaitlyn and walked back to Jon. I leaned against Randy's chair and rested my arm on his shoulder and just kind of swayed back and forth a little from the liquor. Jon looked like he did not like this, but the liquor was becoming more in control over my actions than I was.

"Are you ready to go soon," Jon asked. He looked concerned and pissed at the same time.

"No! Don't take her away yet!" Nikki pulled me to the middle of the bar and we started jumping up and down, singing along to the music and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. I looked over at Jon and saw that he was watching me. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

Then I saw AJ approach him as JoJo followed her, standing next to Randy. He still looked bored and uninterested. Poor, young, naive girl, I thought to myself. Until my attention turned back to AJ who looked like she was flirting with Jon.

And then it happened.

She went in to kiss him but he turned his face at the last second so she only got his cheek.

I stopped what I was doing, unable to take my eyes off those two. Nikki noticed that I was no longer dancing with her, so she also stopped and followed what I was staring at. AJ kept smiling at Jon, and started to whisper in his ear while softly touching his cheek. My blood was boiling and I could feel my temper rising. I was about to charge at her, when someone stood in front of me and blocked my path. I looked up to see who the owner was of the tree-like body. I was taken by surprise to see that it was Randy. When did he even leave his seat? Was JoJo still talking to him like he was still there, because it seemed like he got up way too fast.

"Come on. Let's go outside and calm down," he sternly demanded from me as he gently, yet forcefully, guided me to the doors.

As soon as we got outside, I was pacing back and forth, breathing heavily. He stood there and watched me with a hint of amusement on his face.

"Listen, if anyone knows about anger issues, it's me. And take it from me; those anger issues can ruin what you have with the WWE," he explained.

He stopped my pacing by putting his hands on my shoulders.

"Lauren, stop. Relax. Let it go. Would you really want to throw your career away over jealously? It ain't worth it, sweetheart. You're too talented and beautiful for me to let you do that."

Did Randy just call me beautiful? Out of that whole lecture, I felt like that was all I heard.

But, I could still only look angrily at him while his hands were still on my shoulders.

I could only imagine what it looked like to Jon as he walked outside.

"Get your fucking hands off her," he screamed as he charged at Randy and I.

Randy looked shocked that Jon came outside and was now trying to start trouble. He backed away from me with his hands in the air to show no harm.

"Look man, I brought her out here because she was about to kick AJ's ass. She's too talented to let her get fired after one night on the job." I noticed that he left out the beautiful part when he told Jon his reasoning. "No harm, no foul. Alright?"

"You haven't been able to take your eyes off of her all night long, and now you bring her outside, alone? And you expect me to believe it was for her benefit?" Jon berated Randy.

I could only keep my mouth shut because I was too in shock and too drunk to be rational right now. I was only concerned about kicking AJ's ass at this point.

"Look man, I haven't done anything tonight. And even if I did, she's not even your girl to say what I can and can't be doing to," Randy defended himself.

"She is my girl so back the fuck off!"

I suddenly popped back into reality on that note. I didn't know if I felt like a piece of property at that moment or if I felt charmed, but either way, I didn't have much time to think.

"Enough, guys," Phil shouted from behind all of the commotion. "I'm not bailing anyone out of jail tonight so you both need to tuck your balls away and head to back to your hotels."

CM Punk had this fatherly/older brother look of anger and disappointment on his face. He made me ashamed to be a part of the situation.

I walked over to Jon and he put his arm around me. He stood there for a second to shoot a warning look at Randy. We walked back into the bar to settle our tab with Randy not too far behind. I noticed that everyone was staring at us, but JoJo and AJ were clearly absent.

Jon paid the tab as Brie and Nikki came up to console me. I smiled back to thank them. There was nothing to say. They knew what was up without me having to spell it out to them. Jon took my hand as we left together, making our final statement.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day after the incident, I flew back to my home in Florida and Jon went back to his place in Las Vegas. We didn't speak much about the AJ and Randy thing from the previous night. Maybe it was because we were both too nervous to be jealous this early in our relationship, or maybe it was because we would get heated about the situation again and take it out on each other. I wasn't sure, but I was sure that I regretted not having a conversation about it.

Luckily, I didn't live too far from Nikki and John so I could vent about the situation to them.

As Nikki and I were out tanning by the pool, John remained inside doing phone interviews.

"So is everything okay between you and Jon," Nikki started.

"Yeah, I mean we really didn't talk about it. Nothing really happened," I lied for a reason I couldn't come up with.

"What do you mean nothing happened? You were ready to beat AJ's ass after she tried to kiss Jon! And then Randy comes out of nowhere and takes you outside for whatever reason he had. We all assumed that he was trying to make out with you and Jon was going out there to kick his ass."

"Why would you assume that he wanted to make out with me? He took me outside to calm me down," I got defensive.

"Randall has had his eye on you since day one," John interrupted and startled me simultaneously. Guess he was done with his interviews.

"Is this something that everyone knew," I asked, confused.

"No. He doesn't go around announcing it, but I know the dude pretty well. He has been pretty closed off since his divorce, but I can tell he likes you by the way he looks at you. He always talks about how much talent you have and how he hopes the WWE doesn't just throw you away like all the other divas." John looked at Nikki, "No offense, honey."

"None taken," she sarcastically smiled at him.

"So I wonder if he's going to back off after we made it pretty clear last night where we stand in our relationship," I interrupted.

"I honestly doubt it. Now it's a challenge to him and Randy, as we all know, doesn't back down from a fight."

"Look at you! You have the men fighting over you already! Make sure this stays quiet or they'll make it into a storyline just like what happened with Matt Hardy and Lita," Nikki helpfully chimed in.

I sat there, quietly, trying to take in all of this new information. I guess Randy was the guy Jon was talking about when he said that one of his friends liked me. It made me feel bad that their friendship ended over me, but at the same time, it's not like I had any say or control over the situation.

"So should I feel threatened over AJ," I asked John trying to sort through all of my thoughts.

"No. I wouldn't worry about her. I mean, is it going to be annoying that she's going to try to steal your man away? Yes. Will Jon actually want her? No."

"Lauren, listen to him. He is good at reading people," Nikki chimed in, not to be forgotten in this important conversation.

"What the hell is going on!? On one hand, we got Randy trying to get into my pants, and on the other, we got AJ trying to get into Jon's." I pressed on, basically ignoring Nikki.

"Have you and Jon even gotten into each others pants," Nikki bluntly asked. She seemed seriously curious.

John and I both chose to ignore her and continued with an actual conversation.

"AJ's had feelings for him for some time now and he's never budged. Jon has never been about chasing females or worried about if the Divas like him. So when he came up and asked me about you, since he knew that you and Nikki are close, I knew that he actually had honest feelings for you. He doesn't give AJ the time of day. But when he sees you, he lights up. You're special to him. I honestly believe that you have nothing to worry about."

I smiled thinking about that. It was an amazing feeling in just knowing that Jon simply had feelings for me. But to know that he doesn't get like this with just any girl made me feel special.

"What are you going to do about Randy," Nikki asked, breaking my happy-thought-train.

"Nothing. Just try to constantly be around Jon at work so there's no chance of anything being tried."

"Good. You and Jon are a cute couple, although you lied to me about him."

I replied back to her statement with an evil glance.


	7. Chapter 7

A couple months went by and I stuck close by Jon just as I planned. We didn't have any more issues with Randy or AJ which allowed us to become more relaxed with each other. More and more coworkers were becoming aware of our relationship because of this and the incidents that had occurred, but Jon and I tried very hard to keep our relationship off the fans' radar.

He and I never spoke about the incident with Randy and AJ, or our feelings of threat. We seemed to just trust each other because we had no reason not to. Other people had feelings for us, but what was important was that we had feelings for each other which made the outsiders not matter.

I also continued being the fourth and only female member of The Shield. It was an amazing experience being able to train, eat, sleep, travel, ride with, just getting the full WWE experience with these three men. They had a lot of insight on how to do things and why, in and out of the ring. They were my confidants and my brothers. I could come to them for anything and they had my back. Colby and Joe never straight out asked what the deal was between Jon and I, but it was obvious. It was nice because they never felt the need to intervene in our relationship. But it also meant that the two were even more protective over me because I was their brother's girl. I hardly had to go to any place alone. I always had one of the boys by my side. And after my horrible night at the bar a few months back, it was like a dream knowing someone was always there to protect me.

It was Monday night again, another Live RAW. I had a match against Kaitlyn, who was the last person on my hit list before I could finally have my shot at AJ. And when I got my hands on her, I was going to take the title and the revenge that I deserved. After my victory tonight, I would be the number one contender. My soon-to-be feud with AJ was not only going to be on a professional level, but also on a personal one.

I headed to the ring tonight with an escort from Colby. The bell had rang and our match begun. It was a quick match, like most female matches are. She got a couple good shots in, but my finishing move was too effective for her to overcome. The Shield's music hit, and Colby got into the ring to raise my arm with the ref for my victory. Simultaneously, AJ's music hit and my adrenaline kicked in. Finally. The wait was over.

AJ stood at the top of the ramp and held her title up, taunting me. I smiled at her and talked a bunch of shit that no one could hear, but you could tell that whatever was coming out of my mouth was not kind. We held contact with each other's eyes until we were both forced to cut our scene. Colby and I walked to the back and we met up with Joe and Jon who were watching the show in the back.

"I could see the fire in your eyes." Jon seemed impressed.

"That's because soon enough, I'm gonna light that bitch up," I nonchalantly replied.

My brothers seemed shocked at my remark. We tried to not speak of AJ or Randy and I was starting to let my anger over the situation come to light. I think they were starting to understand that they may have a situation on their hands.

It was time to head out for their match and I was accompanying them at ringside. Our music hit and we headed to the ring. Their match was against Randy, John Cena, and Daniel Bryan. I pretty much stayed out of the way and let the boys do their thing. I checked on them if they looked hurt and cheered them on when they needed it. But when Colby and Joe were laying hurt outside of the ring and Jon was motionless on the mat, not looking like he was going to be too useful at the moment, I knew I had to intervene. Randy brought Jon up to his feet and was about to hit an RKO.

I clearly did not think—I just reacted. I slid into the ring and just kind of tackled Randy. I didn't know what to do. He was too tall and too heavy for me to do any type of move in my skill-set to him. He was definitely too strong for me to even try to punch him effectively; that would have done more damage to me than to him. So I just kind of sloppily tackled him to distract him from pinning Jon. He barely moved. He turned his attention to me as Jon dropped back down on the mat. That's all I was trying to do, just get his attention. And hope to God that one of the guys could save me from whatever Randy was about to do to me.

He was kind of shocked at first that I was in the ring with him. He looked at me surprised, looked at Jon still laying motionless on the mat, glanced to the outside of the ring where the other guys were all stagnant, then stared back at me with an evil grin. Randy's character wasn't actually a bad guy, but he was clearly not a good guy either. Randy had the power to do as he pleased and I knew that he had to play this out how his character would handle this, personal feelings set aside. I probably should have attacked John Cena because his character wouldn't attack me back. Crap.

He picked me up; I squirmed and fought to get free with no luck. I quickly realized how big of a mistake this was. He was heading to the ropes, when suddenly AJ's music hits. He turned around to see what was happening, still holding me. AJ skipped to the ring, slid in, came up to me and slapped me as Randy kept his grip which caused serious confusion to me. It felt like they were working together.

After she slapped me, she went over to Jon and kissed him on the lips as he was still lying motionless on the ground. She smiled at me after she committed the evil act and got out of the ring. I was screaming and fighting to be free from Randy with even more power now. Jon sat up quickly, surprised and disgusted as to what just happened. Then he saw Randy holding me and looked like he was about to kill him. Jon got up, was about to head to me, when Randy let me go. Colby came flying over the ropes, landing a cross body on Randy. I quickly got out of harm's way. Joe was on the apron now, ready to be tagged in. As soon as Jon walked close to him, he tagged himself in. Jon was not getting any happier with this chain of events. I could tell that he wanted to get his hands on Randy, and the guys knew that also. They were doing their best to not let that happen because they knew what those repercussions could be. Joe speared Randy, then went for the pin. The match was over and instead of enjoying the win, Joe and Colby rushed us to the back.

They lead us to any empty room so we could talk privately and so that Jon and I could calm down. Jon was pacing back and forth, looking beyond pissed. I waited patiently for this stupid meeting to be over so I could get my hands on AJ. She crossed the line tonight. All this meeting was going to do was let my anger build more and more until it could be released. If they thought that pulling me aside would calm me down, that's fine. I'll wait. It will only be more dangerous for AJ.

"Look, what happened out there tonight was Orton and AJ trying to get underneath your skin, guys. AJ wanted to prove a point because you're after her belt. And Orton is just a dick, we all know that. Nothing more guys. So please calm down," Colby pleaded to Jon and I.

"No, no, no, no. See in reality, AJ wants me and wants to piss my girlfriend off and Orton wants Lauren and wants to piss me off. That's the reality of it," Jon stated nonchalantly. Everyone was kind of surprised with his calmness.

"Well I was trying to keep it professional and to give you the professional stand point, but yeah. You guys can't mix business and pleasure if this is going to be your reaction."

"Everyone relax," Joe interrupted because he knew that statement wasn't going to go over well.

The tension in this room was building. I stood there silently, waiting for it to end. Jon looked at us all, then left. He was definitely pissed.

"Should we go stop him before he finds Orton," Joe asked Colby.

"Nah. He's more pissed at me right now for what I said and that's what I wanted. I wanted him to not focus on Orton right now and just calm down so he'll stay out of trouble." Colby turned to me, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm cool," I held onto calmness so I could make a quick escape.

Colby studied me for a second, then nodded his head in approval and left. Joe patted my back out of sympathy and followed him. Game time.


	8. Chapter 8

I went to the locker room and packed up my bags quickly and silently. I didn't want any distractions; I only wanted to find AJ and prove my point that enough was enough. But I obviously didn't want it to be at work around all of these witnesses.

I headed out to my rental car, when I saw a familiar face standing by it.

"Do you have a death wish," I sourly asked Randy as I continued to approach the vehicle.

"No, and you don't either."

"Stay out of this," I warned him as I put my bags in my car. Randy took them out of my hand and loaded the car for me. He gave me a pleading look. "What do you want," I demanded to know.

He stopped loading the car, took a moment to gather his thoughts, then started to powerfully explain to me what was on his mind. "I didn't know she was going to come down to the ring and do all of that. I didn't know she was coming down to the ring at all. I didn't even know you were planning to get involved in our match."

"It wasn't planned," I shouted with anger.

He took a second to recompose himself after I screamed at him.

It dawned on me that if I was going to get into a shouting match, I should have probably picked someone that was less known for their anger issues.

"Look, I know you're mad, but that wasn't my fault. I was trying to take you outside of the ring and sit you down in a chair so you wouldn't get involved again. I was trying to be nice. I could have RKO'd you right there," he said through a bitterness while trying to remain calm.

"Trying to be nice? Trying to be nice! You held me defenselessly while AJ slapped me and kissed my _OFFSCREEN, COMPLETELY NOT A PART OF ANY STORYLINE_ boyfriend... On live TV! Forgive me. I didn't know that was you being nice to me." I also did my best to remain calm, but my voice still escalated a few times.

"Look, I was just as surprised as you were when AJ came down. I knew someone sent her out there to work on your angel with her. And it was in my business instinct to do what I did. If I didn't, I would have been scrutinized backstage for knowing better," he said, very calmly. I could sense that he was still trying to deescalate the argument.

"Glad to know that you know what's best for business, SINCE MINE IS NOW PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE!" I was completely disregarding the fact that Randy's patience was starting to run thin with my shouting.

He again took a second to remain calm and to fix his face before he spoke to me. He must really like me to go through all of this.

"You're right, I do. And I know that when you find AJ tonight, it will not be best for anyone's business."

I calmly looked at Randy, waiting for him to get everything off of his chest, while thinking about my next move. I was completely checked out of the situation and ready to move on. After a moment of silence in which I thought he was also ready to get over our debacle, I attempted to move past him to get into the driver's seat of my rental. I was without success because he grabbed my arm, preventing me from leaving and this dealing with this bullshit even further.

"Let go of me!"

"Lauren, I'm trying to save your career here."

"Why is that Randy!? Is it so you can buy yourself some time to try to lure me away from Jon!? Is that what you really want?" I stopped speaking because an idea hit me so fast I couldn't think and do at the same time.

He stopped for a second and looked at me in shock. He looked slightly angry, but he seemed to be thinking about where to go after that statement. He let go of my arm and stepped back from me as I started to come back to reality.

I was really pushing my limits here with him and he wasn't budging. This just gave me more reason that he was up to something.

"You know what, do what you gotta do. If you want to go beat the hell out of AJ over jealously and throw away your career, then that is your decision. But you are right. I do care a lot about you and would love to have you as my girl, but you aren't. So as someone who has a genuine interest in your wellbeing, I'm telling you to think before you decide to do something stupid," he boldly made his point then walked away.

I watched him as he left me alone with those words to think about. If only he knew that the last part of his statement carried a double meaning for me.

When I got to my hotel room, I hesitated before I opened the door. I had made up my mind on how to handle our problems with AJ and Randy, and I knew I had to tell Jon about it, but I knew that he wasn't going to like it. But, the other part of me was scared to see an empty room on the other side leaving me to wonder where he was. As I was contemplating if I had the guts to see my fate, the door opened before I had a chance to decide. Jon was standing in front of me, equally surprised as I was.

"Are you going out," I asked with a loss for any other words.

"No, I was just about to come find you," he replied sternly.

I walked into our hotel room and sat down on our bed as he followed and sat next to me. We sat in silence for a minute.

"Are you still mad," I hesitantly asked, stalling to start my soon to be argument.

"Not with you," he responded calmly.

"Then we need to do something about this AJ and Orton problem," I blurted out before I had a chance to think about the repercussions. "We keep avoiding this subject for whatever reason and the problem only seems to be getting worse since now it's being televised."

"I agree," he said in defeat.

"And I have an idea, but you're not going to like it," I had to look away from him because I knew he was going to be upset.

He paused and looked at me with caution.

I told him about my solution and he patiently listened, which was something I could appreciate… until I was finished, and then he exploded like I expected.

"Absolutely not! Are you out of your mind!? There are easier ways to deal with this like telling them to fuck off. I'm not letting you do this."

"Jon," I paused to gather my thoughts. "They are trying to outsmart us and get what they want. I want us to be a step ahead of them and turn this around in our favor. This is a way for us to get ahead of their game in so many ways. This is a way for you to get ahead in the business. Let's take what's ours and be done with this for once and for all."

He stared at me for a moment to gather his thoughts. He did not look pleased.

"I never told you the whole story about the night from the bar, so here it is so you have all the information you need before you decide to go through with this," he said through a hiss. "Randy and I used to be friends as you already know, and I remember when he saw you for the first time how he was undressing you with his eyes." He paused to take a deep breath to calm down. After a moment, he look at me with sincerity. "I already knew who you were and how I wanted to go after you so it pissed me off when I saw him do that. I sat around and listened to how he used to talk about you like you were just a toy that he couldn't wait to play with. I remember hoping, praying that he wouldn't have the chance to ask you out before I did. It just took me time to build up enough confidence to turn my back on a friend for a girl, no offense.

So one night, he and I went out to a bar, and we coincidently saw you. We both quickly realized the situation you were about to put yourself in. I could easily foresee him trying to take advantage of you and you falling for it to 'thank' him for saving you from that creep. So I saw my opportunity with you and knew that it was definitely going to be now or never. I convinced Randy that if he went out and got physical with the guy, the WWE would probably fire him since he already has two strikes on him and plenty of bad press from all of his previous outrages. He thought about it and let me come out and help you by myself and the rest is history. I made my decision that night to turn my back on my friend and I went after you."

He paused to stare into my eyes; to read my reactions to his honesty. He stood up and walked to the corner of the room. He stood there for a couple of seconds, facing away from me. He then turned around to look at me and started to speak.

"I chose you over him. Our friendship ended that night. We stayed cordial to each other for the sake of working together. But when he kept showing up at places where you were, it pissed me off. I knew what his angle was, and now you want to basically give him what he wants."

He stopped talking and I was speechless. He was really doing this to me right now after I made up my mind and came up with a solution for our problem. I could only stare back at him, lost in my thoughts.

"No, I want to get ahead of the game and end it on our terms," I finally broke the silence.

"Our relationship is not a game! My feelings for you, our life together, none of that is a game!" He paused after that intense moment. "Look, I have no clue what Randy and AJ are up to, but it's really not any of my business until it affects us."

"Which is now, Jon! Were you not there when AJ came down to the ring to kiss you? Did you not see her slap me afterwards? Are you not thinking about how she just made our happy, personal lives public? Were you not there when she tried to kiss you at the bar? I'm done ignoring the problem and I'm ready to solve it while getting something out of it myself. I know it's crazy and unethical and could turn out horribly, but it's worth a fighting shot here because I'm not going to sit around and let AJ think she has a chance with you. I want our control back."

He looked at me like a hypocrite because I was being one. But we both knew that this conversation was a long time coming and something needed to be done. He nodded his head and started to walk out of the hotel room.

"Where are you going," I panicked thinking about the damage that I could be doing to us.

"I'm giving you time to think about this," he answered with uncertainty that he was making the right decision.

"Do I have to worry that AJ is going to be waiting for you wherever you are, because that's what she does?" I almost regretted saying that immediately.

"And why would you think that," he asked in a defensive tone.

I sat on the bed and looked at him. I didn't want to argue anymore. I just wanted to be in his arms and go to sleep, forget this ever happened. But we had both already opened up the flood gates of our issues and the water wasn't done draining yet. Something else needed to be addressed.

"You know what, I'll tell you what's up with AJ," he continued, loudly and definitely defensive. "I slept with her about a year and a half or so ago. Not once, but a few times. I never had any feelings for her and I wanted to keep it that way. But she, she started to have feelings for me. So I ended it. I didn't want to hurt her, I didn't want to lead her on, and I certainly did not want a relationship with her so I broke off our little arrangement, although I could have easily kept it going. Which brings me to Randy. You ever wonder why he got divorced. Huh, Lauren? AJ and JoJo are so close because JoJo was screwing Randy at the same time AJ and I were messing around. But Randy also broke it off with JoJo because she had gotten feelings for him. Obviously that was bad for him because he was married to Sam at the time. Now JoJo basically blackmails Randy with this information all the time. Sam never found out about his infidelities, but JoJo having him basically by the balls changed him. And if he wants to see his daughter, he'll keep JoJo happy. Just some more for you to think when you go through with this."

I sat in silence thinking about how this could piss JoJo off which could possibly lead her to tell Sam about the affair. It crushed me to think that Randy's daughter would be the innocent victim in all of this.

"And it would also be unfair that you are so worried about AJ and not taking in consideration how I'm going to feel when you go through with this. You are basically going to seduce another man and I have to sit back and watch. And you still want me to be with you? What if something happens one night and things go a little too far? Am I supposed to just accept that as part of the plan? Or what if it starts to become reality and you two actually fall for one another, then what?"

"Let's get this straight," I said as I stood up to confront Jon because I had enough. "I do not have feelings for Randy, nor will I ever. I would never cheat on you or even think about such a cruel thing because I love you. This whole thing is about trust but right now, I need time to get over the fact that you don't trust me. I'm not going to sleep with him and quite literally, I'm never going to lay in his bed or next to him. I won't even be thinking of anyone else but you because I am going to miss you so much. But right now, I don't want to see you." I stood my ground and confidently held eye contact with Jon.

He was surprised with my outburst, but accepted it with a nod and silently headed out of our hotel room for the night.


	9. Chapter 9

A couple days passed and it was time to head back to work for RAW. I spent my days off alone, not talking to anyone or really wanting to. I needed to clear my head and really think about what I was going to do and if it was going to be worth it.

There was also plenty to hide from after AJ publicly embarrassed me. It didn't seem to help my self-esteem after Jon and I had our first serious fight either. But I knew that I loved Jon, which was never a question to me. I just needed time because I felt like Jon doubted everything that we had. I knew in my heart that if I ever had feelings for anyone else, they would never come close to the love that I had for Jon.

I gathered my bags and headed towards my door. This time had loomed in the back of my mind since I came home. I really didn't want to go back and face everyone with all the rumors that were probably circulating. What AJ did last week was a total slap in the face, no pun intended. She went on live TV, slapped me, and then kissed my boyfriend while I watched helplessly. I can only imagine what people were saying, especially the fans. I felt like she aired all of our dirty laundry to the public without our consent. Jon and I never wanted the fans to know about us, but now I was counting on the WWE to work our relationship into a storyline after her little stunt.

I also couldn't shake the anxiety of seeing Jon for the first time in days after our huge argument. But nonetheless, I had to put all of these thoughts and feelings aside and do my job.

I opened the door, and to my surprise, Jon was standing there deep in thought. It surprised us both to be standing in front of each other after no communication for a few days.

"What the hell? What are you doing here," I asked, shocked.

"Um, do you not want me here," he looked disappointed.

"No," I chuckled anxiously. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I'm just surprised to see you right now. I just thought that I'd be seeing you later on today, one way or another," I trailed off nervously.

"Honestly, I couldn't wait another second to see you. I know things got a little heated the other night and we obviously still got a lot to discuss. But, I want you to know that I don't want things to end between us and I want to work on this together… and if this all wasn't a last minute decision, I would totally have flowers for you right now. I also thought it would be a good idea for us to travel together so we can have a united front for everyone to see since we're probably the newest power couple in the WWE. Well, at least for now." He paused to interpret my emotions.

"Well, alright. I agree with everything you said so far, I think… However, I would like to know where your bags are and how did you get here," I asked with sincere curiosity.

"I'm on a layover, and I took a cab."

"You're incredibly impulsive."

"I'm incredibly in love. I'm sorry about what I said the other night; it was just a lot to take in and to think about. This whole thing that you want to do was something that I really needed to think over, and I did. I know you said that you needed time and space but apparently I needed some too."

I paused, unsure of where this was headed. "So, are we good?" I asked hesitantly.

He embraced me in a hug, kissed my forehead.

"Like I said, we still have things to discuss, but we're good."

It was a weight off of my shoulders when he lovingly grinned at me.

Jon and I were never much for PDA, but today we let loose. We held hands in the airport, we kissed each other in public, we took photographs together with the fans, he carried my luggage- we did it all. I mean, the cat is out of the bag. I was clearly upset on national TV when AJ kissed Jon and we were pretty sure everyone could assume why that was.

After our flight, we arrived to the hotel and got settled into our room. Not too long after, Joe and Colby joined us to discuss everything. Even though it was mine and Jon's relationship troubles being publicized, it affected our entire group on how it was going to play out.

"Alright, so what's the deal guys? What's the status between you two," Colby started with the first question.

Jon looked at me for permission to answer for the both of us and I gave it to him. "Just for the purpose of being clear, I'm gonna spell everything out like you two know nothing. Lauren and I have been seeing each other for the past five months and we were doing our best to keep it under the radar as much as possible, but AJ's little stunt last week threw that out the window."

"Yeah, we pretty much got that," Joe chuckled.

"But where does that leave us in the group? Are we still gonna try to keep it under wraps or what's up? I mean, this could turn bad for Lauren. People could start trying to say that she slept her way into the group or whatever," Colby continued.

"Well they can say what they want because there's nothing for us to hide anymore. Jon and I are just going to come clean with it. It's not how I wanted to be a part of the group, as a girlfriend or a pretty face, but I can't stop people from saying what they want to. It just means that I'll have to work ever harder now to show that I am a valid contributor to The Shield," I explained.

"Guess that means that we'll just have to bring justice to Orton and AJ now," Joe said.

Jon smiled, "I like where your head's at."

Later on, we headed to the arena as a group. We basically stuck with "you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us" rule. People were whispering and trying to suddenly become friendly with us; trying to get closer to us for the details of the latest scandal on our hands. But, there was no point in trying to defend ourselves and to dispel the rumors so we remained silent. People would just create more rumors and more things to talk about because we were the most interesting topic right now.

As we were about to separate so I could go to the Divas' locker room, a crew member informed me that Triple H needed me in his office. I had this sudden feeling that I was in trouble. I gave Jon a quick kiss and headed to see the boss.

His door was open so I kind of poked my head in. He looked up from his paperwork, smiled at me, and motioned to me to have a seat. I sat in silence waiting for him to finish up his paperwork.

"Alright Lauren," he put his pen down and looked up at me. "I'm gonna get straight to it. I sent AJ down last week to stir the pot between you two. I didn't know she was going to do all of that, but it was good TV."

I just sat and stared at him with a 'glad you thought my personal issues were funny' look.

"So, now what? Where are we going with this," I asked.

"Well, like I said before. Here's your platform, here are your tools, now make the Divas division legitimate again," he smiled.

"Just sit back and relax then," I smiled and started to get up and leave until he interrupted.

"Lauren, if you ever need advice, I'm here for you. Especially if you're dealing with Orton because I know that kid pretty well. I practically raised him to become who he is today."

"I'll send that message Jon's way; I've got my path set on AJ," I said, trying to keep my annoyance under wraps as I left his office.

I was walking back to the locker room so I could finish getting settled for the show when someone pushed me into an empty office.

"What the fuck," I screamed. I looked back to see it was Randy as he was locking the door behind him. "Seriously dude? You have a death wish."

He walked up to me, put my face in his hands, and passionately kissed me. And I kissed back, taken by surprise of the moment. But I soon realized that this was a bad idea. I pushed him off, took a step back from him and just stared at him in shock.

"AJ kissed Jon, I kissed you, now we're even." he confidently pointed out.

"That's not good math. That's not how it works," I said with confusion and disappointment.

He thought for a second, gave me a cocky wink and then left the room. That's it? That's all the explanation I get? I shook that off and tried to clear my head. I started towards the locker room when I was stopped again. Jon came up to me and pulled me aside to a corner where no one was.

"Is everything okay," he looked concerned.

"What? Yeah, why?" I asked with even more confusion.

"Because you look seriously stressed right now and you just came from Paul's office. Are you in trouble?"

I looked at Jon, even more stressed. Should I tell him that Randy just kissed me or was it better to contain the problem before it started? I didn't want him to beat the hell out of Randy tonight. We would get our revenge in due time.

"Oh, no. Everything is fine. Paul knows what is up and he just wanted to make sure that we make the best of it on TV."

"Well is that stressing you out? Do you not want to go through with this publicly, because I completely understand if you don't. I'm still trying to convince myself that I want to."

"No, I'm sorry. I also ran into Randy on the way down." Jon had a concerned look on his face. "It wasn't anything to worry about Jon. Relax. He was just trying to be cordial. Can you go get suited up so you can help me stretch?"

"Yeah, I'll see you in a bit," he seemed skeptical and pissed as he walked off.

I tried to shake off the craziness of the past ten minutes and once again started my way to the Divas locker room.

Brie greeted me with a smile, which automatically turned into a concerned look when she saw me. She pulled me to a corner of the locker room.

"Hey girl, what's up? Why do you look so stressed," she sincerely asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a lot going on with the AJ thing," I lied.

She put her hands on my shoulders and looked at me straight in the face, "Do you love Jon?"

"Yes, of course I do." I was shocked with why she was asking this.

"And does he love you?"

"Yes…."

"And if you both truly feel that way, nothing can stop you two from being together. Not AJ, not Randy, not publicizing your personal lives, and not even the fan girls that are soon going to ridicule you because you think you're good enough to date their 'husband.'" We both laughed at her and she brought me in for a hug, which I desperately needed.

It was time for me to start getting ready to head down the ring with the guys. I met up with them in a corner away from everyone and Jon started to help me stretch. It was almost relaxing feeling my tense muscles starting to loosen up.

Jon helped me to my feet, gave me a quick kiss and a wink to reassure me that everything would be okay. We headed to our entrance and awaited our music to hit. The time was now to face reality and our situation dead on.

We walked through the crowd, Colby leading the way, I was following, Jon had my back and Joe had his. We jumped the barricade, entered the ring and the four of us stood in the ring, united. Colby grabbed the microphones and handed one to Jon and one to me. The nerves were really setting in now.

Jon took a moment to stare at the crowd then began to make his promo.

"Last Monday, our group was attacked on foreign ground. Orton put his hands on not only a female, not only the sole woman of our group, but he put his hands on my personal life, my girl. And I'm not saying that Lauren couldn't handle him, because I'm sure she could hold her own with such a coward if I let her, but I'm saying that this just became very personal between Orton and I. When he grabbed her and held her defenselessly to be attacked by AJ Lee, he declared war on The Shield, whether he knew what he was doing or not. The moment you decided to look at my girl, Orton, you started something that I'm going to finish." Jon was cut short by Randy's music.

Randy made his way out and down the ramp, but only stood at the foot of it, never entering the ring. He paced back and forth a short distance for a couple of seconds, staring at Jon, then glanced at me and smiled. My heart sunk, and nerves overwhelmed me.

"So Ambrose, the war started when I looked at her? We must've been fighting for a while now because I remember a time before she agreed to be with your sorry ass when I looked at her and told YOU how beautiful I thought she was. And now all of a sudden you're mad? Because I grabbed her to pull her out of the ring? Out of harm's way… out of your psychotic ways! You're just jealous because you saw how she was looking at me when I grabbed her. You saw the want and need in her eyes to be with a real man, such as myself."

"Excuse me," I interrupted, "but I've got this one," I looked at Jon. He was nonchalant and motioned his hand for me to step in the theoretical spotlight. I walked up to the ropes and leaned on the top one so I could look down at Randy.

"Do you really think that I would look at you like I wanted you? Do you really think I'd give up a real man and go after a cocky for no reason, son of a bitch such as yourself," Randy adjusted his WWE title which interrupted my current thought process and lead me down a different path. AJ's music blasted through the arena, interrupting my two thought processes going on simultaneously.

She made her way down the ramp and stood slightly closer to the ring than Randy did. She stared straight up at me, with her title resting on her shoulder. As I thought about my new plan a small smile started to form on my mouth. I watched AJ, waiting for her to begin.

"So, you are saying that you would never choose Randy over Dean, Lauren?" she asked me and I nodded my head in confidence. "You're also saying that you would never touch Randy, especially if Dean didn't know about it, because that would be like really bad, wouldn't it?" She had a mischievous look on her face as she looked at me. I shot a quick glance over to Jon to read his expression. He was looking at me from the side with his arms crossed; still facing AJ, but he shot a curious, yet pissed glance over my way. "So you are also saying that you would never willingly go into an empty room alone with Randy because Dean would never approve of that, right?" She shot an evil grin at me then smiled and held her hand up to point our direction to the Tron.

A video played of Randy and I entering the empty office from earlier together, him kissing me passionately, him walking out, me walking out a couple moments later, then me running into Jon in the hallway like nothing had happened. There was no sound, conveniently, and me pushing Randy away was also kindly edited out. The video stopped and I could see on the screen that the cameras were tightly focused on mine and Jon's reaction. I could see that Jon was fuming. I looked like I was truly caught, but that I also had a plan brewing in my head. I wasn't about to admit defeat, yet. Did I feel horrible for not telling Jon about the kiss and throwing him out here blind to the world? Yes. But I would deal with that later. It was time to use my tools and make great TV.

I launched my body over the top rope at AJ. She fell and I immediately started beating the life out of her. Colby took that as cue and followed my lead launching his body at Randy. Jon got out of the ring and started double teaming with him to give Randy the beating of his lifetime. Although Jon was pretty pissed at me, he knew that Randy was still the man that crossed the line with his girl. Joe hopped out of the ring and pulled me off of AJ. He held me tight so I wouldn't escape and continue to destroy her. He started to yell at Colby and Jon to get off of Randy, trying to contain the situation. He probably would have helped them tear Randy apart, but he knew that the moment he unleashed me, I'd beat AJ to near death. He continued to scream but his voice fell to deaf ears. The refs and back stage handlers came out to separate the boys from Orton. The crowd chanted "Holy Shit, Holy Shit," over the chaos. It took about ten men to actually separate the guys from Randy. When I could finally see Jon, he had the look of a mad man on his face. He looked like the true psychopath everyone grew to love him as in the independent circuit. But the look terrified me knowing that I was going to deal with that psychopath on a personal level backstage.

Joe carried me to the back where I could see all of the superstars and Divas were on their feet in awe of what just happened. He sat me down on a bench and held me there by putting his hand on my shoulder to know if I was going to move. I was extremely hyped up and still wanted AJ's blood, but a part of me was scared to see Jon's face when he got backstage.

Finally, I heard a bunch of screaming men making their way towards us. Colby had Jon in his arms, forcing him to continue back here and not to attack Orton anymore. There were plenty of guys following to ensure that Jon made his way back here. Colby sat Jon down on the same bench, but on the opposite end of me. Joe and Colby switched spots so that Joe could physically handle Jon much more easily than Colby could. I stared up at Colby with my arms crossed, looking at him like he didn't need to worry about me trying anything because I knew he would stop me.

"You guys good," Finlay asked Colby and Joe in his Irish accent.

"Yeah, we're fine," Joe answered alternating looks of disappointment between Jon and me.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to calm down. Then we saw Randy being helped to the trainer's room by two guys. He looked like he was in bad shape. AJ followed shortly after, not needing assistance but still looking like she got her ass handed to her. I smirked when I saw her.

"ENOUGH," Joe yelled at me. I snapped back into the reality of the situation.

We continued to sit there in silence for a while so I grew impatient. I stood up; Colby crossed his arms and stood in my way. I glanced at Joe with irritation, and Colby followed my eyes. Joe nodded and Colby let me leave. I headed straight to the locker room, gathered up my bags in silence. The girls were staring at me, still in shock over what had happened. Some were looking at me with pity; some were looking at me with disgust. But Nikki and Brie were the only two that that I looked back at. I could see that they felt sorry for me. They both gave me a small smile and I returned one to them. I headed out of the arena and stood outside. The realization that I had no way of escaping my hell soon dawned on me. The four of us drove together and I sure as hell wasn't going back into the arena asking someone for a ride. I dropped all of my bags, fell to my knees and began to lightly cry. I couldn't believe all of this was happening. I felt like someone had pulled the carpet out from underneath me.

I felt a hand grab my shoulder, and when I looked back to see who it was, my heart sunk. Jon moved his hand to my elbow and pulled me to my feet. He stared at me for a couple of seconds, studying me. I just continued to silently cry and wait for whatever punishment I was about to receive. Instead, he pulled me to his chest and embraced me tightly. I started to cry harder with my face buried in his chest. He rubbed my back and rocked me back and forth a little to calm me down. A few minutes later, he pulled me away from him and looked at me. He put his hands to my face to dry my tears. His face didn't look sympathetic, he still looked quite angry with me. But he looked like he understood a bit more than he did earlier. He went and picked up my bags, grabbed my hand and led us to the rental car. He loaded the car and closed my door for me. We drove back to the hotel in silence.

When we reached our room, Jon put our things down and still kept quiet with a serious look on his face. I continued to cry. I sat down on the bed and stared at the floor. He sat across from me on the opposite bed and studied me.

"I saw the whole video," he finally interrupted our silence. His voice made me jump since I became accustomed to not hearing it.

I looked up at him; tears continue to roll down my face. I didn't know what to say.

"I saw him push you into the room, I heard what he said to you and I heard what you said to him. By no means were you in the right in this situation, especially by not telling me. But I could definitely see that you weren't going behind my back looking for trouble. Now, care to explain why you didn't tell me?"

I studied him for a minute, not knowing still what to say.

"I don't know, Jon," I said through tears. "The entire situation kind of caught me off guard. I just got out of my meeting with Paul. I was heading to get changed and meet you, then Randy surprised me by doing what he did, and then I ran into you so suddenly, I just panicked. I was debating whether to tell you or not but I didn't want you to freak out and flip out on him at work. I should have told you right then so you weren't walking out and getting blindsided by AJ with that video in front of everyone, but I didn't know that was going to happen either. I'm sorry. I just wasn't thinking clearly."

He continued to look at me, skeptically. I focused on my hands, not being able to bare his look of disappointment in his face.

"I forgive you, but you need to be honest with me and not shut me out. Especially if you're going to go through with your plan."

I looked up at him and nodded to comply with what he said. He opened up his arms, inviting me to sit in his lap so he could embrace me. I still cried and he continued to try to dry my tears. He kissed my forehead, trying to sooth me. He laid me down, trying to get me to sleep after this long night. As I laid there, my plan from earlier was starting to get clearer. I knew it was what I had to do. Not to make things right, but to make things better.

Jon got up and was about to do something until I interrupted him.

"Jon," I said after contemplating for a while on what I was about to tell him.

"Yeah," he turned to look at me as I was still lying down.

"I know we talked about waiting a little to do this, but it's now or never."

He looked back at me with sadness, yet understanding in his eyes. "I know."


	10. Chapter 10

When I woke up the next morning, I texted Randy asking if I could ride with him to the next town. He was completely surprised with this notion, but obliged without hesitation.

His bus arrived shortly after my request with Randy getting off and helping me with my bags.

"Thanks again," I said with a small smile to Randy.

"No problem, I've always been there for you, no matter how many times you've pushed me away."

We boarded his bus and got settled in. I took a moment to look around and I immediately noticed that it was a nice, comfy bus; something that I could definitely get used to.

"You're completely lucky that we didn't head out to the next town yet, because we usually do," Randy stated.

"Well, I have no idea what I would have done if you weren't still here," I said with a polite smile on my face, while looking around.

"So you and Jon got into it pretty bad last night?"

"Yup, all over that stupid video," I said as I finally decided to sit on his couch, looking defeated.

He looked at me, searching for more answers in my body language. "Only over the video," he asked incredulously.

"Well, no. But I don't want to get into all that right now. Mind if I crash for a little bit? Kind of didn't get any sleep last night," I trailed off, not wanting to explain any further.

"Yeah, sure," he answered helpfully. "My bed is right through the door if you want something comfortable."

"No, I'm fine right here. I'm so exhausted that I honestly don't feel like moving," I said as I sprawled out on the couch. He brought me a pillow and a blanket to make me more comfortable which was kind of him.

My phone started going off with back to back texts. I checked it and my heart sunk when I saw they were from Jon. I noticed Randy looking over at me from the other couch so I quickly acted annoyed with the messages.

"Want me to tell him to back off," he asked with a smile on his face. I must've played it off well.

"No, I'm just going to turn it off," I said as I begrudgingly turned off my phone although I badly wanted to text him back.

In spite of this, I quickly fell asleep because I wasn't lying when I said I didn't get a lot of sleep. It turns out that leaving the man you love to seduce another guy isn't very easy to sleep on. I woke up a couple hours later to the smell of delicious food. I looked over to where I left Randy on the opposite couch and he was suspiciously absent. But when I followed the smell of food, I shockingly found him slaving away on the stove.

"Oh my God, you cook," I asked with a raspy voice from just waking up.

He gave me a quick smile, "Yeah, something I learned from being alone so often. Can't even say it was an acquired skill from getting divorced."

I laid back down enjoying the fresh aromas that transpired around me. Plus, I was being way too lazy to move right away.

"Are you going to stay awake and eat with me or are you going back to sleep," he asked, still cooking.

I leaned up on my elbow, "Randy, you seriously didn't have to cook for me. I feel like I'm already asking for too much by catching a ride with you on your bus."

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me, "Woman, I just explained to you how lonely I was so I would prefer if you would join me for a meal." He had a hint of a flirtatious smile.

I politely smiled back at him and got up, trailing to the make-shift dining room with the blanket still around me.

"If you're cold, I have some fresh coffee that will warm you up," he said as he pointed to the coffee maker.

"Oh, no. I have enough anxiety in me right now. I don't need the coffee to torture me even more."

He looked at my curiously, raising one eyebrow, "What are you so anxious about?"

"I'm just an anxious person. It doesn't help when I have a huge argument with my boyfriend and catch a ride to the next town with another guy."

"Well we do have TV tonight and we do work live in front of millions of people, so are you going to be okay, or should you phone ahead and ask for the night off?" He continued to cook as he sternly asked for my answers.

I trailed off in my own thoughts, thinking about how much comfort I needed from Jon right now, but wasn't going to get any. Jon's reaction to my anxiety was always sympathetic and compassionate; Randy was being the complete opposite of this.

"No, I'm fine. I'm a professional just like you and will deal with it," I replied sternly since that's how we were being about this. "What are you making?" I did my best to indiscreetly change the subject so I wouldn't change my harshness into being in bitch mode.

He turned back to look at me really quick with a smile, but looked back to what he was doing. He almost seemed embarrassed and surprised that I asked. "It's, uh… it's grilled cheese."

That brought my lightness back as I pursed my lips together to hold back my laughter from him.

"Hey, I do remember you telling me how picky you are so I thought that this would be the safest route. I've got plenty of protein and power shakes if you want them." He turned around to give me a quick teasing glance.

"No, no, no. It's fine. The way you were talking about being lonely I thought that you mastered the art of fine dining. But I actually do love a good grilled cheese sandwich."

He finished up cooking, then served me a plate and brought one over for himself.

"Maybe if you are nice enough, I'll take you out for fine dining," he said flirtatiously.

I paused and looked at him. "No, I just want to know what happened to you playing the lonely card and convincing me that you had mad cooking skills. Can you cook or not," I asked, with a hint of flirting back.

"I can make a mean green shake."

"I don't even want to know what that consists of." I continued eating; our philandering was over with for the moment and I enjoyed my food. It was sweet of him to remember how picky I am. Jon always thought that it was one of my cuter traits.

We finished our food and Randy still made the green shake, whatever it was. He pleaded with me to just try it but I declined.

We arrived to the arena shortly after, my heart racing knowing that I would have to face Jon soon. I was hoping to arrive earlier than everyone so that few faces would see me unloading off of Randy's bus, but of course that could be just wishful thinking. I put a baseball cap, sunglasses, and an oversized hoodie on to try to stay incognito as much as possible.

Randy saw how I looked and laughed at me, "Smart girl."

"Well I don't want to be known as the town whore because Jon and I had an argument."

"Well I'll see you around. Let me know if you need me."

I smiled at him in gratitude and started to walk away, until he spoke again.

"I really enjoyed our couple of hours together," he stated.

I turned around to look at him, and waited a moment to say "Me too." Then I continued to walk away, leaving that as enough said.

As I walked around the arena, heading to the locker room, I noticed that next to none of the talent had arrived yet. It was mainly just the set up crew and behind-the-scenes people. I felt relieved.

I found a spot in the locker room and switched into some workout clothes. I stretched a little bit and headed out for a jog around the inside parts of the arena. I had a nice pace set, until I ran into one of my teammates.

"Mind if I join you," Colby asked, already joining me.

I gave him a 'do I have a choice' look, as he responded with a chuckle.

"So what happened to you last night? Why were you absent from our drive," Colby started off quickly, not giving us any time to enjoy our jog in silence.

I was always very fond of Colby and Joe. Jon never had any inklings of jealously when I had to be alone with either two of them anywhere. I started to consider them both to be like brothers to me after Jon and I started dating. Colby was like the cooler sibling of the two. I could play pranks on him or plan some with him. If I ever needed advice, I always felt at ease talking to him and knowing that it was in confidence. Joe was also someone I could talk to, but I considered him to be the oldest one, like the glue of the group. He was also very protective over me, like an older brother and very non-negotiable. I felt like I could get away with murder with Colby and rely on him to keep Joe from finding out.

I shrugged my shoulders, "You saw everything that happened last night."

"Yeah, I also know that Jon saw the entire video and went to reconcile with you. That's why we had to catch a ride with Bryan and Brie back to the hotel."

"I don't know, Colby. We still had a fight so I figured we could use some space from each other."

"Well, I could tell something was seriously off with him during our ride. Usually he is so content, even when you aren't with us, but today it seemed like he was in another world. It was like he was mauling over something in his head and not letting it go." He looked at me for answers

I shrugged my shoulders again, not wanting to get into any details, and continued to jog. Normally, Colby could ask me anything and I would provide all the information I had for him. But today, I was holding all of my information hostage. He looked kind of hurt with this revelation.

"Lauren, something is up and I want to know. You or Jon are definitely not acting like yourselves today. If you two are going to break up or if you're just having a fight, that's fine. We as a group can figure out how to deal with you two still working together. Just let me know what I can do to help."

I suddenly stopped jogging and Colby followed my lead. We looked at each other, trying to read each other's minds because there wasn't much of a conversation happening.

"You just reminded me of what I needed to do," I said to Colby then jogged off without him. He stood there in disbelief with his mouth opened in awe.

I made my way to Triple H's office briskly, not wanting to stop and have another conversation with anyone else who may want answers that I was not giving out.

I knocked on the door frame since the door was open. Triple H looked up from his paperwork and at me. He was concentrating hard with a blank look on his face, but motioned me to come in anyways. I closed the door and sat down, waiting for him to finish.

"Sorry kid, I just had to finalize some things," he said as he looked up from his papers and put his pen down. Then he looked at the door, realizing that it was closed. "This must be serious."

I nodded. "I need to leave The Shield." I sat there with a hesitant look on my face, waiting for his approval.

"Uh, um okay. Let's talk about this. Let's start with why," he sounded like a dad trying to figure out his teenage daughter.

"I'm using my platform and I'm doing what I think will make not only my division, but the brand as a whole, entertaining and worthwhile." I had a small, nervous smile on my mouth.

"So are you going to enlighten me on your plan," he asked, still shocked and confused. He seemed to find this conversation slightly amusing.

"No, you put faith in me to do something and I'm going to do it. You made the right choice. I don't think telling you what it is will better it. You just got to let me do this my own way without the influences of corporate. I need this to be a shock value on all ends."

Triple H took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, twiddling his thumbs and envisioning what I just said. He took a few moments and finally made a decision.

"Okay kid. Don't disappoint me," he said looking slightly nervous.

I smiled at him, feeling relieved but still uneasy. I got up to leave, and headed back out for my jog. I was completely delighted that Triple H had so much trust in me, yet I was still so sad. I knew that I was going to have to do things I didn't want to do in order to get what I wanted.

Later that night, I got ready for my re-match against Kaitlyn. When I beat her the first time around to become the new number one contender, she demanded a rematch. So if I lose tonight, my title shot will become a triple threat against Kaitlyn and AJ. If I win, it will be a singles match at the next pay-per-view, which was obviously my preference. With a match this important, and with emotions this high, I was better off being alone, free of distractions for the night.

I headed off to my entrance spot and Joe met me there. He had a solemn look on his face and just watched me. I knew he was still disappointed in me with what happened last night and with the fact that I was absent for the road trip. On top of all this, I made myself completely unavailable backstage for him to talk to me about everything- so yeah, there was a list of reasons why he was upset with me. But since Colby already had his chance to try to pry information out of me, and since Jon and I weren't currently speaking, I'm guessing Joe was probably the group's best decision to send out with me for an escort.

I acknowledged him, but continued to prep for my match. I wanted to stay concentrated on the task at hand. Our music hit, and it was go time. I glanced at Joe, and he met my eyes with the go ahead, so I lead the way out to the ring. My demeanor was very serious, more serious than it has ever been before.

Kaitlyn and I locked up and fought hard and tough. The crowd was feeding into our brutality. We traded blows and move after move. After going back and forth for 15 minutes, selling it to the crowd that it was anyone's game, I headed to the top rope as Kaitlyn laid flat on her back. I took a deep breath and looked down at Joe, who raised one eyebrow at me. I knew what he was thinking. He never knew me to be a top rope type of Diva and he was wondering if I was sure about my next move, but I was ready to prove my point to the WWE universe that I was ready to carry the title. I gave him a wink of reassurance and hit a Kaitlyn with a moonsault. I pinned her and the ref raised my hand in victory.

Then, AJ's music hit.

Joe slid into the ring and protectively stood in front of me. AJ came out but only stood at the stage. She held her title up and smiled at me, taunting me.

"I see ya got Roman Reigns out there protecting you tonight. Guess your boyfriend is still mad about the video. Maybe you shouldn't be messing around with other men while you're in a relationship, Lauren," AJ spewed from her mouth.

I stepped towards her, thinking that I really wanted to go up there and give her the beating of her life after everything she has done to me, but Joe brought me back to reality. He put his arm out to stop me from moving forward anymore, and said only for me to hear, "Not yet, baby girl. Your time will come this Sunday and I won't be there to stop you then." Then he looked at AJ with a mic in his hand, "AJ, don't mistake me standing in between you two as protection for her. I'm much more worried about what she'll do to you as she proved last night." He turned to smirk at me, which only broke my heart thinking about what I asked from Triple H earlier.

I looked back at AJ to remember why I was doing all of this. She did not seem amused with Joe's statement, so she did the only thing she could do in this situation—hold up her title and walk away.

I looked up at him with gratitude and we climbed out of the ring together. We made our way backstage and I headed towards the women's locker room, maintaining my silence about my issues with Jon. I found a spot and undressed out of my ring attire. A couple of the girls looked at me dubiously since they knew that my guys had a match tonight for the main event. But I just sat in the locker room, and watched the show from there. I never went out to rejoin them. When the time came for them to go out, I didn't budge. That was when everyone got suspicious.

Nikki entered into the room and headed straight for me. She stood over me with her arms crossed and a disappointed look on her face.

"Lauren, what's up," she asked sternly.

I quickly glanced up at her then focused my attention back to the TV. I was relaxed.

"Nothing, just watching the show." I watched each man make his entrance to the ring- Daniel Bryan, John Cena, and Randy Orton. Then time came and I was still put in my seat. Nikki looked extremely concerned at that point. The Shield's music hit and my heart sank when I saw him. My love, my reason for existing. But I couldn't show that I was hurt. I needed to put on a strong front and act like I didn't care that I missed him more than anything in this world.

I didn't break my view from the TV. Nikki shook her head at me and walked away towards Kaitlyn. She said in a low tone to her "Something is seriously wrong with her." I heard her, yet I didn't budge.

I watched the entire match. Michael Cole made it a point to mention my absence from ringside many times during his commentary which satisfied me. I watched as Colby was going against John Cena and Joe was outside on the floor, recuperating from his battle against Daniel Bryan. Colby badly wanted to tag Jon in until Cena dragged him into his corner and tagged Orton in. When Orton got his hands on Colby, he beat the holy hell out of him. He was taunting Jon through Colby, making it personal between the two of them. Jon watched angrily, with fury in his eyes. Orton went in for a pin on Colby, but Jon interrupted the match so they wouldn't be defeated, until Bryan sent Jon flying out of the ring. Randy brought Colby up and RKO'd him. He pinned him and the match was over.

I gathered my bags up at that point and casually walked out of the room, with the entire Diva's roster staring at me in disbelief.

I took a cab to the airport and headed home, not giving anybody any inclination that I was heading there.


End file.
